Seasonal Malaria Vaccination (RTS,S/AS01) and Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SP/AQ) (RTSS-SMC)

March 14, 2022 updated by: Brian Greenwood, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

A Phase IIIB Comparative Trial of Seasonal Vaccination With the Malaria Vaccine RTS,S/AS01, Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention and of the Two Interventions Combined

A double-blind, individual randomised trial will be undertaken in 6000 children under the age of five years living in areas of Burkina Faso or Mali where the transmission of malaria is intense and highly seasonal to determine whether the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 is (a) as effective as SMC with SP + AQ in preventing clinical malaria (b) provides additional, useful protection when given together with SMC. The primary trial end-point will be the incidence of clinical episodes of malaria detected by passive case detection.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

The RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine is a recombinant protein vaccine in which the fusion protein RTS (containing parts of the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium falciparum fused to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)) is co-expressed in yeast together with free HBsAg (S) to form a virus like particle (RTS,S); it is given with the powerful adjuvant AS01. RTS,S/AS01 induces a strong antibody response to the P. falciparum CSP and high titres of anti-CSP antibody are associated with protection. Following a long process of development, a phase 3 study of RTS,S/AS01 conducted in 15,439 children in 7 countries in Africa showed that three doses of RTS,S/AS01 given with a one month interval between doses, followed by a fourth dose 18 months post dose 3, gave 36.5 % [95% CI 31,41%] protection against clinical attacks of malaria when given to young children aged 5-17 months who were followed for 48 months; efficacy was less when given to infants at the age of 6-12 weeks. RTS,S/AS01 provides a high level of protection during the first three months after vaccination, modelled to be about 70% in the phase 3 trial, a level of initial efficacy similar to that observed in an earlier phase 2 trial in Gambian adults. However, efficacy wanes progressively over the following months. A subsequent dose given 18 months after the primary series restores some but not all of the efficacy seen immediately after the primary series. In July 2015, the European Medicines Agency reviewed efficacy and safety data on RTS.S/AS01 and concluded that the risk benefit balance favoured the vaccine and gave a positive opinion on its use in children aged 6 weeks to 17 months. The World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) committee reviewed the vaccine's efficacy and safety in October 2015 and made a number of recommendations on its further evaluation. These included the pilot implementation of RTS,S/AS01 in children aged 5-17 months in 3-5 settings with moderate-to-high malaria transmission intensity, with a preference for areas where SMC is not being delivered, and evaluation of alternative approaches to deployment of the vaccine. Recent evidence from challenge studies conducted in American adult volunteers suggests that a higher level of protection can be obtained when the third dose of the priming schedule is reduced to one fifth of the usual amount and delayed until approximately 6 months post dose 2, and when a reduced dose is used for boosting. In these studies, a vaccine efficacy of 86% was achieved three weeks following priming and 90% efficacy following boosting with a fractional dose. This encouraging result is now being followed in further studies.

SMC involves monthly administration of an antimalarial drug or drug combination in a full therapeutic course to children on three of four occasions during the period of highest risk of malaria infection. Studies undertaken in several countries in West Africa, including Burkina Faso and Mali, have shown that SMC with sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine (SP) and amodiaquine (AQ) is highly effective in areas where the transmission of malaria is markedly seasonal, reducing the incidence of severe and uncomplicated malaria by up to 80%. SMC with a combination of SP and AQ is safe, with no serious drug related adverse event being reported after administration of over 800,000 courses in Senegal. Recent studies have defined the areas where SMC would be an appropriate intervention based on the seasonality and incidence of malaria. These include most of the Sahel and sub-Sahel, population approximately 200 million, and possibly other areas in southern and eastern Africa. A Technical Expert Group of the WHO reviewed all the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of SMC in May 2011 and recommended SMC with SP+AQ in areas of the Sahel and sub-Sahel with highly seasonal transmission. This recommendation was endorsed by the WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC) in February 2012. Most countries in the Sahel and sub-Sahel region have incorporated SMC, along with other malaria control interventions in their strategic malaria control plan and the implementation of SMC at scale is in progress in many countries in this region through the UNITAID supported SMC ACCESS programme and the support of other major donor organisations. Preliminary evaluation suggests that SMC is providing about 50% protection against clinical malaria when delivered through a national programme (http://www.malariaconsortium.org/pages/access-smc.htm).

SMC is effective but its delivery is demanding on the recipient and provider, requiring four contacts each malaria transmission season if anti-malarials are given to mothers to administer at home and 12 contacts if directly observed treatment is employed. In addition, SMC is threatened by the emergence of resistance to SP and AQ and there are currently no other combinations of licensed antimalarials that could be used to replace them. It is likely to be 5-10 years before novel antimalarials under development could be deployed for SMC. In contrast to SMC, seasonal vaccination with RTS,S/AS01 would require only one visit each transmission season after priming. RTS,S/AS01 may be a little less effective than SMC during the malaria transmission season but this may be balanced by provision of protection during the dry season, when some malaria transmission still occurs and when SMC would provide no benefit. There is, therefore, a need for a comparative study of these two interventions. In some areas where SMC is currently being deployed, and other malaria control interventions such as long-lasting insecticide treated nets used widely, the incidence of malaria in young children remains high (0.4 episodes per year in children under the age of five years in SMC recipients in Burkina Faso). Thus, determining whether RTS,S/AS01 would provide added, useful protection to SMC in such situations is also important. It might also be able to protect some children who, because of side effects, are unable or unwilling to take SMC.

Although the European Medicines Agency has given a positive opinion on RTS,S/AS01, it is not yet certain how this partially effective malaria vaccine can be used most effectively. Three, large-scale pilot implementation studies are being planned by WHO but it is unlikely that, following WHO recommendations, any of these will be conducted in a country where SMC is being delivered. The WHO recommendations on RTS,S/AS01 indicate the need for research on alternative approaches to the delivery of this vaccine. Exploration of the potential of the vaccine to prevent seasonal malaria, taking advantage of its high but rapidly waning efficacy, meets this recommendation and is, therefore, timely.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

5920

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
        • Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Direction Régionale de l'Ouest
      • Bamako, Mali
        • Malaria Research & Training Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

5 months to 1 year (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The child is a permanent resident of the study area and likely to remain a resident for the duration of the trial
  • The child is 5 - 17 months of age at the time of first vaccination
  • A parent or legally recognised guardian provides informed consent for the child to join the trial

Exclusion Criteria:

  • The child is a transient resident in the study area
  • The child is in care
  • The age of the child is outside the stipulated range
  • The child has a history of an adverse reaction to SP or AQ
  • The child has a serious underlying illness, including known HIV infection, unless this is well controlled by treatment, or severe malnutrition (weight for age or mid arm circumference Z scores < 3 SD)
  • The child is known to have an immune deficiency disease or is receiving an immunosuppressive drug
  • The child has previously received a malaria vaccine.
  • The child is enrolled in another malaria intervention trial
  • The parents or guardians do not provide informed consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: SMC with SP+AQ
Administration of RABIPUR® in Year 1 and Hepatitis A vaccine in Year 2 and 3, followed by 4 cycles of SMC with sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine in Year 1,2 and 3.
Year 1 (2017) Three doses of rabies vaccine (April, May, June) Year 2 and 3 (2018/19) One dose of Hepatitis A vaccine (June)
Year 1, 2 and 3(2017/18/19) Four cycles of SMC (SP+AQ) during the malaria transmission season One cycle of SMC for children above one year of age consisting of sulphadoxine - pyrimethamin (SP) 500mg/25 mg, and amodiaquine (AQ) 150mg on day 1, and AQ 150mg on days 2 and 3. Infants will receive half of these doses.
Active Comparator: RTS,S/AS01
Administration of the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 followed by 4 cycles of SMC with placebo in Year 1,2 and 3.
Year 1 (2017) Three doses of RTSS/AS01 (April, May, June) Year 2 and 3 (2018/19) One booster dose of RTSS/AS01 (June)
Year 1, 2 and 3(2017/18/19) Four cycles of SMC placebo during the malaria transmission season
Active Comparator: RTS,S/AS01 PLUS SMC with SP+AQ
Administration of the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01 followed by 4 cycles of SMC with sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine in Year 1,2 and 3.
Year 1, 2 and 3(2017/18/19) Four cycles of SMC (SP+AQ) during the malaria transmission season One cycle of SMC for children above one year of age consisting of sulphadoxine - pyrimethamin (SP) 500mg/25 mg, and amodiaquine (AQ) 150mg on day 1, and AQ 150mg on days 2 and 3. Infants will receive half of these doses.
Year 1 (2017) Three doses of RTSS/AS01 (April, May, June) Year 2 and 3 (2018/19) One booster dose of RTSS/AS01 (June)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of Clinical Episodes of Malaria
Time Frame: Passive surveillance of clinical episodes of malaria within the study area starting from the date of the first dose of study vaccines (April/May 2017) until 31st March 2020- a total of 36 months.
Passive surveillance to detect episode of fever (temperature > 37.5 C), or a history of fever within the past 48 hours, that is severe enough to require treatment at a health centre and which is accompanied by a positive blood film with a parasite density of 5,000 per µl or more
Passive surveillance of clinical episodes of malaria within the study area starting from the date of the first dose of study vaccines (April/May 2017) until 31st March 2020- a total of 36 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Clinical Episodes of Uncomplicated Febrile Illness
Time Frame: Passive surveillance in all health centers within the study area, active surveillance in a sub set of study children starting July 2017 till April 2020.
Passive and active surveillance to detect cases with temperature > 37.5o C), or a history of fever within the past 48 hours, with a positive blood film (any level of asexual parasitaemia) or a positive rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for malaria
Passive surveillance in all health centers within the study area, active surveillance in a sub set of study children starting July 2017 till April 2020.
Hospital Admissions With Malaria, Including Severe Malaria
Time Frame: Through study completion (30 months), each child admitted in a study hospital will be treated and monitored until complete cure or death (a period of 3 years). Documentation of each hospital admission according to ICH-GCP.
Hospital admissions with malaria, including cases of severe malaria which meet WHO criteria for a diagnosis of severe malaria.
Through study completion (30 months), each child admitted in a study hospital will be treated and monitored until complete cure or death (a period of 3 years). Documentation of each hospital admission according to ICH-GCP.
Prevalence of Malaria Infection Not Severe Enough to Warrant a Clinic Visit
Time Frame: Weekly home visits through study completion from July 2017 - April 2020 to screen study children for malaria.
Active surveillance of malaria at household level to assess the prevalence of malaria infection not severe enough to warrant a clinic visit detected in a subset of randomly selected children.
Weekly home visits through study completion from July 2017 - April 2020 to screen study children for malaria.
Prevalence of Malaria Parasitaemia, Including Gametocytaemia and the Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Anemia and Malnutrition
Time Frame: Blood sample collection during 2-week cross sectional survey at the end of each malaria transmission season.
The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia, including gametocytaemia, moderate and severe anaemia and malnutrition at the end of the malaria transmission season
Blood sample collection during 2-week cross sectional survey at the end of each malaria transmission season.
Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)
Time Frame: Through study completion (for 30 months), each SAE will be treated and documented according to ICH-GCP.
Serious adverse events (SAEs), including any deaths, occurring at any time during the study with special reference to any cases of meningitis and cerebral malaria (WHO case definition)
Through study completion (for 30 months), each SAE will be treated and documented according to ICH-GCP.
Immune Response to the Vaccine (Anti-CSP Antibody Concentrations)
Time Frame: Blood sample collection prior to 1st dose of vaccine and 1 month after 3rd dose of the primary series of vaccination. In years 2 and 3 blood will be collected before the booster dose and 1 month after administration of the 4th (and 5th) vaccine dose.
After priming and after each booster dose, determined in a sub-sample of children
Blood sample collection prior to 1st dose of vaccine and 1 month after 3rd dose of the primary series of vaccination. In years 2 and 3 blood will be collected before the booster dose and 1 month after administration of the 4th (and 5th) vaccine dose.
Drug Resistance to SP and AQ
Time Frame: Blood sample collection during the 2-week cross sectional survey conducted at the end of malaria transmission season in 2019.
The presence of molecular markers of resistance to SP and AQ in parasite positive samples
Blood sample collection during the 2-week cross sectional survey conducted at the end of malaria transmission season in 2019.
Prevalence of Malaria Parasitaemia in School Aged Children
Time Frame: Blood sample collection during the 2-week cross sectional survey at the end of the malaria transmission season in Year 2 and 3 (November 2018/19).
The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia at the end of the malaria transmission season in school-age children resident in the study areas, to determine overall malaria transmission
Blood sample collection during the 2-week cross sectional survey at the end of the malaria transmission season in Year 2 and 3 (November 2018/19).
SP+AQ Drug Sensitivity
Time Frame: Children with asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia identified during the final cross-sectional survey (November 2019), treated with a full course of SP+AQ over 3 days and followed for 28 days.
The 28-day treatment outcome in children with asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia treated with SP+AQ.
Children with asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia identified during the final cross-sectional survey (November 2019), treated with a full course of SP+AQ over 3 days and followed for 28 days.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability of RTS,S and SMC
Time Frame: Data collection in Year 3
The acceptability of the two interventions (separately and combined) to the health care deliverers and to the study communities (standardized questionnaires)
Data collection in Year 3
Feasibility of Introducing Two Malaria Control Strategies Simultaneously
Time Frame: Data collection in Year 3
The feasibility of introducing two malaria control strategies simultaneously from the health system perspective (structured observations and interviews with health system officials)
Data collection in Year 3

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Study Director: Alassane Dicko, Professor, Malaria Research & Training Center, Bamako
  • Study Director: Jean Bosco Ouedraogo, Professor, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Direction Régionale de l'Ouest (IRSS-DRO)

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 17, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2020

Study Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2020

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 22, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 4, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

May 8, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 7, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 14, 2022

Last Verified

March 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Yes

IPD Plan Description

Data will be made available through the LSHTM Data Compass system

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Children, Only

Clinical Trials on RABIPUR®

Subscribe